CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mixed on Tuesday in Christmas Eve trading after U.S. stocks closed at record highs overnight following news that China has announced plans to lower tariffs on a range of products. Trading activity remained subdued ahead of the Christmas holidays.
The Australian market is modestly higher in an abbreviated trading session following the positive cues from Wall Street. The Australian market will close early today for the Christmas holidays and reopen only on Friday.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 7.30 points or 0.11 percent to 6,792.40, after rising to a high of 6794.60. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 9.20 points or 0.13 percent to 6,903.90. Australian stocks closed lower on Monday.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are adding 0.6 percent each, while BHP is edging up 0.1 percent.
Gold miners advanced after gold prices settled at a six-week high overnight. Newcrest Mining is rising more than 2 percent and Evolution Mining is higher by almost 2 percent.
Oil stocks are rising after crude oil prices edged higher overnight. Oil Search and Woodside Petroleum are advancing more than 1 percent each, while Santos is adding almost 1 percent.
The big four banks are mixed. Westpac Banking is adding 0.2 percent and National Australia Bank is edging up 0.1 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is down 0.2 percent and ANZ Banking is unchanged.
Corporate Travel Management said it will acquire a U.S.-based travel firm, Corporate Travel Planners Inc., for a potential A$53 million as part of its expansion in North America. Shares of the travel planner are edging down 0.1 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is higher against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday. The local currency was quoted at $0.6922, up from $0.6907 on Monday.
The Japanese market is edging lower after a positive start following the overnight gains on Wall Street. Investors are looking ahead to the release of minutes of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting held in October.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is down 5.47 points or 0.02 percent to 23,815.64, after touching a high of 23,853.56 in early trades. Japanese shares gave up early gains to end nearly flat on Monday.
Market heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp. is declining 0.6 percent, while Fast Retailing is adding 0.2 percent.
In the tech space, Tokyo Electron is losing almost 1 percent and Advantest is lower by 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the major exporters are modestly higher on a flat yen. Mitsubishi Electric is rising 0.6 percent, Panasonic is higher by 0.4 percent and Canon is adding 0.2 percent, Sony is edging up 0.1 percent.
Among auto stocks, Toyota Motor is declining 0.4 percent and Honda Motor is down 0.2 percent. In the oil sector, Inpex is adding 0.3 percent and Japan Petroleum is rising 0.5 percent after crude oil prices edged higher overnight.
Among the other major gainers, Nippon Sheet Glass is rising almost 4 percent, while Nippon Suisan Kaisha and Yamato Holdings are higher by almost 2 percent each.
On the flip side, Seiko Epson is losing more than 2 percent, while Mitsui E&S Holdings and Dai-ichi Life Holdings are lower by almost 2 percent each.
On the economic front, the Bank of Japan will release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on October 30 and 31. At the meeting, the BoJ maintained its policy rates but it signaled further monetary easing going forward as the economy is set to expand at a slower pace amid weaker inflation outlook. The policy board also voted to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at -0.1 percent.
Japan also will see November numbers for supermarket sales today.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 109 yen-range on Tuesday.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia are also lower. New Zealand is advancing almost 1 percent, while Shanghai, Singapore and Indonesia are modestly higher.
On Wall Street, stocks advanced modestly and closed at new record highs on Monday following news that China's Finance Ministry announced plans to lower tariffs on a range of products, including frozen pork, pharmaceuticals and some high-tech components. China said tentative import tax rates will be implemented for 859 types of products beginning January 1 in order to optimize the trade structure and promote high-quality economic development.
The Dow climbed 96.44 points or 0.3 percent to 28,551.53, the Nasdaq rose 20.69 points or 0.2 percent to 8,945.65 and the S&P 500 inched up 2.79 points or 0.1 percent to 3,224.01.
The major European markets closed mixed on Monday. While the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.5 percent.
Crude oil futures ended higher on Monday, although gains were just marginal as traders refrained from making big moves ahead of upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays. WTI crude for February delivery inched up $0.08 to $60.52 a barrel.
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